Aspinall Wants Jones Stripped: ‘Stop Protecting Him Now’

Tom Aspinall is coming off a memorable knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich last weekend at UFC 295 in which he won the interim UFC heavyweight title, but the surging English star believes he should be walking around with the undisputed belt wrapped around his waist.

Aspinall, who was and still is considered the future of the UFC heavyweight division, was stepping up on short notice at UFC 295 to fight Pavlovich. Originally, the promotion had planned on a legacy fight between current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former titleholder Stipe Miocic to headline UFC’s return to New York City. Unfortunately, Jones suffered a torn pectoral and will be sidelined until the middle of next year.

As usual, UFC decided to put an interim title on the line instead of stripping Jones and creating an opportunity for Aspinall and Pavlovich to win undisputed gold. This ultimately causes confusion among top contenders in the division and creates a muddled situation for those looking to win UFC gold, even for Aspinall who holds the interim strap.

UFC’s current plan is to wait for Jones to get healthy so they can still book his fight with Miocic. That could be a serious problem for Aspinall, who would have to wait well over a year to fight the winner of that legacy fight assuming Jones doesn’t return from injury early. If it was up to Aspinall, Jones would be stripped of his UFC heavyweight title right now and Miocic would be next in line for a shot at the crown.

“I think Jon Jones should be stripped from the title to be honest, because everyone else does when they get injured like that,” Aspinall recently told Michael Bisping. “I don’t see why he’s still got it. I don’t understand that. I think I should be the real champion right now.

“It’s hard to say without sounding rude, but who’s asked about Jon Jones and Stipe anymore? Why do we get this legacy fight, and they get to live by their own rules? What’s a legacy fight, a retirement fight for a title? I want to fight Stipe and then I want to fight Jon Jones. … I think all this other stuff is rubbish. Stop protecting him now. Stop protecting your boy Jon Jones at the top. If he’s injured, get out of the way and I’ll fight Stipe.”

Luckily for Aspinall, Miocic doesn’t seem too interested in waiting for Jones either. In fact, the former UFC heavyweight champion was a bit disgruntled with the fact that the promotion has shelved him for this long. Maybe UFC changes course over the coming months and books Aspinall vs. Miocic with the winner meeting Jones at the end of next year.

Thoughts? Should Jones be stripped of his UFC heavyweight title? If so, is Aspinall vs. Miocic the next matchup to make?

Sound off!